Birmingham child protection 'poor'

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

The largest social services department in the country is "not fit for purpose", according to Birmingham City Council's own councillors. The department was being investigated following the revelation that eight children known to social workers died in the last four years.

Councillor Len Clark produced a report that said there was poor management, a lack of accurate information about children in care and the use of unqualified staff to handle referrals of young people at risk. Clark found there were "unacceptable practices by social workers, no long-term strategy, inadequate case files on children at risk, outdated computer systems and a service unfit for purpose".

He said: "Many of the findings of this children's social care inquiry will not make comfortable reading for the council. This was not the intent, but if we are to make sustainable progress and not just short-term fixes, we must address the underlying issues in our report."

However, Khalid Mahmood, MP for Birmingham's Perry Barr, reckoned the investigation did not go far enough and questioned whether Tony Howell, strategic director for children, young people and families, and Les Lawrence, cabinet member for children, young people and families, should stay in their jobs.

"There has been a systemic failure of management and Mr Howell and Councillor Lawrence haven't dealt with this," Mahmood said. "They are real failures. They should bear some responsibility for this. No one is blaming the people at the coal face, the social workers. Twenty per cent of them are off sick because management hasn't supported them at all. Mr Howell and Councillor Lawrence should take a deeper look at what they have done. They should consider their position. They should consider whether they are the right people for the job."

However, Howell – who apparently said the deaths were a "relatively very small number of children" given Birmingham's size – said he didn't think he should step down, despite the report saying there

Lawrence said: "I have a job to do, I have a notice to improve and I have recommendations to implement. It is interesting that Mr Mahmood suddenly appears now. He has been given numerous opportunities to participate in briefings. I have written to him on a number of occasions, but he has never acknowledged the letters. He is only interested in his personal political gain. If he really cared about the children in his constituency and the city he would be participating like all of the other MPs in working to bring about the improvements that are needed."